Being a mere plebian designer, my literary intake is generally confined to the sport pages of the local rag, however on this occasion I’d like to share with you a recent journey I had into Dante’s Inferno.

For the uninitated this term is derived from ‘The Divine Comedy‘, which is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through what is largely the medieval concept of Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, hell is depicted as 9 Circles of suffering located within the earth, each one becoming more horrific than the last. The first, uppermost levels contain the sinners who haven’t really been that bad at all, the unvirtous, the cheats, the greedy and so forth. Continuing further into the bowels, each Circle becomes more gruesome until you reach the final levels containing the scum of humanity; the murderers, rapists, politicians and so forth. So far, so good, then.

However, thanks to Northern Rail’s 17.27 Blackpool North service last night, I believe I may have inadvertently stumbled upon another, concluding circle, possibly overlooked by Dante in his haste to escape the Beast himself. It appears to be reserved to those members of society who have no sense of social grace, manners or intelligence; the People Who Play Music Through Their Mobile Phones (In Public).

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